A Prophet Who Dares to Confront the King Nathan (2) is a prophet during the reign of King David. The Bible has two stories about Nathan. When David has established his kingdom and enjoys a time of peace, he shares an idea with Nathan. He wants to build a temple for the Lord. Nathan tells […]
God Fulfills His Promise to David through Jesus After Solomon constructs God’s temple, he holds a dedication service, bringing the ark into the temple. Then Solomon gives a lengthy prayer to celebrate the event. First he praises God. Then he offers a prayer of dedication. In his prayer of dedication, Solomon acknowledges a promise God […]
Punishment, Preparation, Milestone, and Completion We’ve looked at occurrences in Scripture of the numbers twelve, seven, and three. Now let’s consider the number forty in the Bible. It occurs throughout the Old and New Testaments. Forty Days and Forty Years The most common use of the number forty in the Bible is to measure time, such as […]
A Constant Dripping The word “quarrelsome” is almost exclusive to the book of Proverbs, occurring six times there and only two other times in the rest of the Bible, most to a quarrelsome wife. Quarrelsome means “given to quarreling, contentious, belligerent”; some of its synonyms are argumentative, fractious, and petulant. Five of the six occurrences […]
Where We Spend Our Time Reveals Our Priorities King David longs to build a temple for God, but God says this is not to be. Another, a descendant of David, will attend to its construction. Instead David must content himself with the temple’s planning and in accumulating its building materials. Then he dies, having never […]
A Wise Guy God told King Solomon to ask for anything and it would be given to him (2 Chronicles 1:7-12). (I think this is the closest thing we see in the Bible to God granting wishes like a genie.) As a wise guy, he chose carefully. Solomon asked for wisdom and knowledge. And God […]
Psalm 180 from Beyond Psalm 150 The book of Ecclesiastes shares Solomon’s personal journey of trying to find meaning and purpose in his life. It’s a dismal saga, discouraging and void of hope. Early on Solomon shares a pessimistic view about the seasons of life. He opens acknowledging there’s a time to be born and […]
Psalm 172 from Beyond Psalm 150 After bringing the ark to the temple and dedicating it, the third part of this public ceremony is Solomon’s blessing to God, which emerges as a psalm of praise to him and instruction to the people. Blessed be Yahweh, who has given rest to his people Israel, according to […]
The young girl gazes out into the desert. Something comes towards her. It is Solomon, her lover, traveling by carriage. He is accompanied by a protective band of weapon wielding warriors, tested and poised for whatever threat awaits them. With Solomon—and his army—she will be protected. In a spiritual sense, this is how it is […]
Psalm 171 from Beyond Psalm 150 After bringing the ark to the temple, Solomon stands before the altar, lifts his hands to heaven, and offers these words to God: Yahweh, the God of Israel, there is no God like you, in heaven above, or on earth beneath; who keeps covenant and loving kindness with your […]